International Policy Makers Discussion Panel: Assessing the Barriers to Progress For Driving Down Leakage in Different Regions of the World Non ...

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International Policy Makers Discussion Panel: Assessing the Barriers to Progress For Driving Down Leakage in Different Regions of the World Non Revenue Water (NRW) - leakage from the pipe network and loss of income to the water utility from theft and under-recording meters - has long been a feature of operations management, even in countries with a well-developed infrastructure and good operating practices. However, it takes on a new dimension for water utilities in low and middle income (LAMIC) countries, where a combination of poor infrastructure, low operation and maintenance budgets and intermittent supplies poses greater challenges.  In such circumstances what are the steps to put in place - and what are the barriers to progress - for driving down leakage? We ask an international panel of experienced policy makers how they address these issues Eng Taqsem Khan,  Managing Director and CEO,  Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Bangladesh Jeffrey Kightlinger, General Manager,  Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, USA Professor Joaquim Pocas Martins, Secretary General,  National Water Council, Portugal Dr Ahmed Moawad, Vice-Chairman,  Holding Company for Water and Wastewater, Egypt Professor Shuming Liu, Associate Professor,   School of Environment, Tsinghua University, China This is just one of the sessions at this year's Global Leakage Summit - www.global-leakage-summit-2016.com

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  1. Possible steps could include: Digitising water networks and creating district metered areas to monitor both physical and commercial water losses; Adopting GIS platforms for network and metering management and automating meter reading and billing to limit human contact with data; Building staff capacity to use new technology and utility managers' leadership and management skills; and approving cost-reflective tariffs to encourage water conservation by consumers, among others. 

  2. NRW is a devil we must continue to tackle, particularly is Sub-Saharan Africa where it is estimated at between 40 to 50% per year. Unlike physical losses, commercial losses (CWs) are relatively not capital intensive yet it contributes about 40% of total NRW. Access to new technology for meter reading and meter management, difficulty to pilot District Metered Areas in analogue zones dominated by spaghetti water networks and inept water managers without ability to design workable CW reduction incentives are among the leading obstacles.